You will be held accountable for purposes of grading for the readings and exercises listed here. There will be no "testing." That means that you will not have to live in anxious anticipation of what we will ask and how much you will have to know. Instead, we will provide weekly discussion questions, lectures, essays, and concepts we feel that you should know as a result of having taken this course. You will assure us of that learning and receive your grade for the questions and concepts about which you choose to write and talk with us. In addition you will find detailed explanations and examples on our grading policies in the first week's reading.

What aspects of contemporary news coverage do you feel are the most damaging to fair trials? (Surette:113)

Should live television coverage of criminal trials be allowed? (Surette:113)

Is it important that reporters be protected from testifying and that their files and notes be protected? (Surette:113)

Suggested Creative Activities:

Watch a court-related television program, and relate it to some of the points made in Surette, chapter 4.

Find out how and why Court TV was created. How popular is Court TV? Who are some of its competitors? Why.

Recommended Readings:

Emily Finch. The Criminalisation of Stalking: Constructing and Evaluating Solution. Recommended by Bettie Poole: "an interesting book provides the first detailed analysis of stalking and how the law has responded to social problems situations." Fall 2003.

Basics:
---You should be familiar with the various issues discussed in this week's readings -- Surette chapter 4, "Media and the Construction of Criminal Proceedings". In other words, you should be able to answer the discussion questions and to be an active contributor to our class discussions.
--- You should be familar with the above list of concepts, and able to show how these concepts relate to court proceedings.